NZFF

Hi guys

Unfortunately it appears that someone has uploaded my Government Gardens scenery to Flightsim.com without my permission. They have also stated that the scenery is for FS2004 so ive been getting emails asking why it doesnt work properly.

Ive asked the web master to remove the file.

Please remember that my scenery is LIMITED RELEASE FREEWARE meaning that it is only avaliable from select locations of my choosing (in this case: Flightsim.co.nz and Avsim.com). Please do not upload it to other servers. Ive got nothing agains Flightsim.com but havent ever downloaded files from there: I have donwloaded lots from Avsim so that is why my scenery gets uploaded there.

Cheers

Yeah my work gets put up all over the place, i just think at the end of the day more people get the better . my movies end up all over the world on german sites and so on even with "this is done by me etc".. lol
i uploaded to avsim,and my work ended up on flightsim ,kinda saved me doing it really ,you wonder why anyone would want to do it ,upload a file and waste internet time
my guess it is flightsim.com peoples trying to get more content for there site ,why else would someone go to all that trouble
freeware is freeware i cant really stop anyone uploading it to other sites and i wouldnt at the end of the day as the copyright i just whack on them really means nothing on the net and what goes goes ..
apart from the 2004 thing they put on the file info id be happy its reaching more people ,ie your name is getting out there with your work ,ive spent years trying to do that

Timmo is your work being misrepresented? Is someone else capitalising on your work? If not then there is no copyright issue. The net is the net for all it's advantages and disadvantages.

If you are a freeware developer and are happy for your files to be re-distributed in this way then I have no problem with that choice. However, as a freeware designer, I set the rules for my own work.

Here is the license agreement from this scenery:

1) LICENSE AGREEMENT

This files contained within this download are LIMITED RELEASE FREEWARE meaning that they may not be sold, charged for or profited from and can only be downloaded from certain locations. These files are provided only from www.flightsim.co.nz and www.avsim.com.

You can:
• Install this scenery on as many computers as you want from a single download (as long as you are not distributing it commercially or taking credit for the scenery)
• Publish screen shots and videos of this scenery (in fact it's encouraged!)
• Put New Zealand on your "must travel there before I die' list

You cannot (unless permission is given):
• Upload this scenery to any other file sharing organization, FTP or website
• Redistribute this scenery as part of a compilation disc/package where the credit for the scenery may be assumed to be the creator of compilation.
• Sell, charge or profit from this scenery.
• Decompile the data in these files.

The aerial photo data in these files remain the property of the Environment Bay of Plenty (The Bay of Plenty Regional Council, New Zealand.)
The 3D models, placement of Library objects and textures remain the property of VisualiseIT (Tim Barnes)
Downloading and using these files does not constitute ownership

These files are presented "as is', you use it at your own risk. The zip file was scanned for virus' prior to upload and was reported as 'clean'.

If you have an issue with any of the above, please DO NOT CONTINUE WITH THIS INSTALLATION.

This makes it VERY clear that uploading my work to other websites is prohibited unless my permission is given. That is the issue here. My work is being misrepresented insofar as a) it is listed as FS2004 scenery when it is not and b) that I uploaded it to Flightsim.com when I did not.

I think its important to make the point that just because something is freeware, it doesnt give one the right to do whatever one chooses: You are still bound by the license agreement.

An author still has the right to determin where his work is represented, intellectual property gives us that (though unenforceable). Some of my work has turned up on flightsim too but it dosent bother me too much as I have an issues with AVSIM's attitude to contributors these days. Incidentally Timmo I generally avoid DLing scenery from flightsim.co.nz out of principle (as I know a few others do) so posting it on AVSIM and Flightsim.com is a pretty good idea in future.

Anyway, the files have now been removed-

Jerrys final words: Its just important to respect the wishes, whatever they may be, of the people that create 'stuff' for the community- Whether it be Freeware, payware or whatever

Ronindanbo- Yep fair enough....again, that is your choice and is to be respected. I do upload my scenery to Avsim and most of the time it is just linked from flightsim.co.nz.

It is clearly a breach of both copyright and licence agreement (although there is no explicit © notice, it's still protected under international law in most countries). Ethically, it's no different to pirating a Hollywood movie and copying it onto some download sit. The fact that Timmo was giving it away for free is immaterial; in fact the thought that someone would steal something that's already free makes it worse!

"The net is the net" is no excuse. Stealing is stealing. Period. No matter how you want to dress it up.